Lasagna With Ricotta, Mozzarella & Mixed Vegetables

Lasagna just isn't complete until you add in some delicious ricotta, mozzarella and mixed vegetables. Make lasagna with ricotta, mozzarella and mixed vegetables with help from a longtime experienced chef in this free video clip.

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Video Transcript

Benvenuti amici, welcome to Isabella's Bella Cucina, and my name is Isabella Morgia di Vicari. Today, I'm going to teach you how to make a wonderful lasagna rollatini, as I call it. It'a lasagna with mozzarella, ricotta and mixed vegetables, a fabulous vegetarian dish. But I've got to tell you, you don't have to be a vegetarian to love this dish. So, let me tell you what I've gotten so far. I've got the pasta right here, in front of me, and I'm going to show you that I precooked the pasta, so it's nice and easy to handle, o.k. What we're going to do first of all, I'm going to mix the ingredients. I'm going to take some ricotta, oops, here we go, and I'm going to put that in a bowl. And you're going to see how everything is done so quickly. I'm going to add a couple of tablespoons of right now, of Romano cheese, because I love Romano cheese. I'm going to give you a couple of cracked eggs, and I'm just going to stir that up, just a little bit. Now, what have I done so far, I have my favorite vegetables. For this recipe, I use red peppers, zucchini and egg plant, because I love those. But if those are not your favorite vegetables, use your favorite. If you like broccoli, if you like cauliflower, if you like asparagus, I want you to use it. And all you need to do is, put the vegetables, cut them up in small pieces, put them in a saute pan. Alright, with a little bit of olive oil and literally, one, two, three. Alright, you just want to put a little color in there, because they're actually going to cook in the oven as well, when we bake the lasagna. But for now, I've got them already done for you. So, I'm just going to stir this up. I'm going to season this with a little bit of kosher salt, a little bit of cayenne, because you know me, I love my cayenne. I'm going to throw the vegetables in, in the same mixture, as you can see, stir it up beautifully. Now, when I'm making a bigger batch, sometimes the mixture gets a little thick. To make it a little easier to handle, I literally take a dollop or two of my marinara sauce. And don't forget, you can go to FoodWithPassion.com to get Chef Isabella's marinara recipe that you're going to love. So, I'm just going to do this, just so that you can see. what that does is, it actually loosens it up. So, we're going to stir that in, not to mention, adding fabulous flavors. Now, watch how simple this recipe is. Another reason why I absolutely love this dish, because you can make it for one, you can make it for two, you can make it for a hundred, it doesn't get any easier than that. How wonderful it is to actually personal chef for your family. How wonderful to actually have these meals done ahead of time. And you know what, all you need to do, is give yourself a little bit of time on your day, that you choose. And then, get it done, prepare it and all you have to do is, put it in the oven. Watch this. I'm just going to spoon some of the ingredients, right here, down the center. I'm going to probably do them all at the same time. O.k., do you see those beautiful, chunky vegetables? Now, you don't have to overflow the piece of pasta, of course, the lasagna. But I love these chunks of vegetables, and I think they're fabulous just like this. Now, here we go, I'm just going to make dinner for two tonight. So, I'm going to add a little bit of sauce on the bottom. If I were cooking for my whole family, I would use a nine by thirteen pan. And I would make all of these, I would probably use a whole box of lasagna and increase the volume. And you can see that on my recipe, it gives you the exact measurements, o.k., to do this for a whole family and see what happens. So, here we go, I'm just coating the bottom of the pan. Watch this, rolling it up so very simply,and I'm going to take that seam side and place it down. Now, I've got to tell you another reason why I love this, is because normally when you eat a lasagna, it's usually pretty heavy. I have yet to meet a light lasagna that I love. So, but this is not heavy at all. And another reason, it's much healthier for you, it's not as heavy. Now, look at this, how simple it is. Now, of course, I've got the lasagna here, I've got the pasta with the seam side down. I'm going to top it with a little more sauce, might as well finish that up. Of course, I can't forget the Romano, a little more Romano and the mozzarella, right down the center. And there you go, you're done, into the oven, 350 degrees, till hot and bubbly. It could be 20 minutes, it could be 30 minutes, depends on the volume of lasagna that you make. Let's put this in the oven. Look at this beautiful lasagna rollatini. Now, if this is not simply incredible and delicious, I don't know what is, let's give it a try. I'm going to plate this right here. Of course, I've got to have some fresh basil. So, just cut up a little bit, sprinkle that on there, and got to have a little sauce. Here we go, let's see what this tastes like. Oh, if you could see these beautiful chunks, ah, got to get that piece of formaggio cheese. Um, that's fabulous, your family's going to love it. How wonderful, can you imagine taking this piece of lasagna rollatini and packing it for your child for lunch. How about packing your husband's lunch, instead of him eating at the office, the same old, same old. Doing something extra special for your family, do what you can to get them to the table. Because the most important thing you can do with them, is share your time and your love over a fabulous meal. Grazie, we'll see you again, ciao.